Shadow Wall
by I'm not telling
Summary: The story of Phantom's life was a mess. Especially since, by most people's standards, he was never alive in the first place. Post PP, Phantom-centric, eventual Slash, Pitch Pearl.
1. Chapter 1

_The story of Phantom's life was a mess. Especially since, by most people's standards, he was never alive in the first place. Post PP, Phantom-centric, eventual Slash, PitchPearl._

**A/N:** So, explanation. I started writing this about a month after posting the fist chapter of Timekeeper (Ehehehe…. oops?). It mainly started as me being irked that Phantom was always the dominant one in every Pitch Pearl story, and then suddenly turned into this… thing. This crazy thing that is way too fucking serious for coming from one itty-bitty irritation, and left me completely lost on how to write it so that it made sense.

Basically, this story is weird. Maybe not in fanfiction terms (we all know the crazy shit that ends up here, there's no use denying it), but its still kinda odd for me and enough out of my skill range that I dread people's reaction to it. Oddly enough, I think that might be why I like it so much, which is why it's now getting posted.

Also, if it wasn't obvious before, this will be Pitch Pearl, which means Slash, manxman, yaoi, shonen-ai, diddly fiddling, whatever you'd call it. This is your warning.

Also also, for the slightly less obvious, to me this story isn't exactly a romance. It started that way, and it's one of the genre's it's labeled under, but for a reeeeeaaaly long time it wasn't a very romantic story. Those non-romantic parts didn't get cut out. There will be a lot of stuff going on, and any real romantic plot will… take a while to develop. Shippers, this is your warning. Seriously.

(Also also also, I don't own anything related to Danny Phantom. And you should be happy about that.)

Chapter One

* * *

-~o~-

If you lived your entire life locked in a box, could you comprehend the sky? If your every day was made up of four walls, a ceiling, and a floor, and then it was ripped away from you, could you face it? Could you live with that, the world you were left with? Would there be life for you, outside that box?

Phantom would have to say yes, but as far as most people were concerned, his opinion didn't really matter. Not that that was particularly unusual, mind you – most humans ignored his opinions. Besides, a human raised like that would never recover, never be normal.

Humans were different, though. All life was. You couldn't expect a human raised in total isolation to come out unscathed. Isolation changed people, especially as children. If they couldn't move, their bodies weakened and atrophied. If they weren't taught to speak, they lost the ability. If they had no interaction, they fell into a deep depression with no escape. And even if they were let out, once they'd been shaped and locked into place, they were stuck that way. If Phantom had been human, he would have never recovered.

But he wasn't. He was just a ghost, without even a memory of being human. He might have existed before Danny gained his powers, a weak presence unmanifested in the Ghost Zone, but it was just as likely he'd only started life when ectoplasm bonded with Danny's body. But that didn't matter. He knew the only reason he was what he was, had been because he was with Danny. And the only reason he'd become _who_ he was, was because that had eventually changed.

Most of his earliest memories were a mix of emotions and physical sensations, without sight or sound or… well, anything. He wasn't quite sure he could be defined as a person back then. Danny would move, and Phantom would move with him. Danny would think, and Phantom would think with him. He'd been an echo, something ill-defined inside of the human's body, bound up in ectoplasm, unquestioningly at the human's disposal. Danny just had to think, and Phantom would act.

Not to say that he'd never messed up. He'd been weak at first, uncomprehending. Like a baby, in some ways. Danny's nerves would fire, electricity would surge through Phantom, stimulating the ectoplasm that made him up, and he'd do something in response. The only way Phantom would know one way or another how well he'd done was how Danny reacted. Sometimes he'd be pleased, sometimes irritated, sometimes angry, and Phantom would react accordingly.

From what Danny said later on, the whole process had made the first month rather frustrating. Sometimes his powers would act up out of nowhere, or react to how he was feeling, and when he tried to actively _control_ them it was like trying to light a bum firework – sometimes it fizzled, sometimes it exploded, and sometimes he thought it did the first right up until it blew up in his face.

But things worked themselves out. It had gone on like that until about a year or so after the accident. He'd been doing well, learning along with Danny how to control their powers. He could easily discern between when Danny wanted to twitch a muscle and turn intangible, and Danny had a much better sense of how to send signals to him. It was still complicated, but Phantom was quite eager to please.

Up until the last moment, things had been normal. Phantom remembered he was resting, the constant currents running down the nerves a quiet lull, none directed at him.

And then, something changed. There was a great jerk, and suddenly everything was active. The signals sent muscles twitching, everything going in overdrive as something Phantom couldn't discern demanded attention.

Another jerk, and a shock of pain. Phantom cried out with Danny, every nerve firing pain through him, hitting deeper than it ever had before. He moaned out silently as the body around him was forced to move, and the confused signal came for Phantom to activate.

He immediately replied, and the body convulsed in pain. Phantom was assaulted with the feeling of being flayed open. He keened in agony, trembling, even as Danny began yelling. Phantom had never felt pain like this before – not this _directly_, not this _completely_. It bubbled across him, like electricity arcing through his body, burning holes straight through his being.

He had distantly felt Danny's continued convulsions, back arching up in a way that would have been agonizing in any other situation, all thrown in shadow by the pain. It felt like Phantom was dissolving, body and ectoplasm rebelling against his consciousness, turning on him.

Then he was forced _out_.

Phantom remembered seeing a video of a calf being born once. It had been rather short, with footage spliced together from different stages of the birth. The most notable thing he remembered, though, was how quickly the newborn had been able to walk. The clip had made it clear that standing had been one of the first things a calf ever did, and no amount of video editing could change for him how amazing it was, watching it happen. Like standing up was the most natural thing in the world. It had completely baffled him, because looking back on his first day in the world, it had been nothing like that.

There had been no way for him to process what happened. Even as the pain lessened, the fear hadn't. He'd never been able to see before. Or hear. Nor had he ever had a body. His senses blared like a siren in his head, contrasted sharply to the complete absence of nerve signals, making it impossible to think.

And through all of it, the world was awash with light, and as a creature that had no _knowledge_ of such a thing…

It had been the first time his screams had truly been his own.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Eight reviews? Wow, that's pretty good, considering the first chapter was barely a thousand words long and I posted it in the middle of the night. Thanks to ReadHeadsRock1010, jeanette9a, Teah no kitsune, fullmoonwolf950, and the anonmahnons named Guest and Andy for being so damn enthusiastic. Also an extra big thank you for MsFrizzle and DB-KT for reading and liking this in spite of the Pitch Pearl. And to all those faves/follows… thank you for filling up my e-mail with bot messages. Jesus Christ, so many messages…

_**Teah no kitsune:** I just hope that by 'romance doesn't come until much later' you aren't implying that there would be copious amounts of angsty fake romance of nonconsensual M-rated means. But if you meant that this story is just REAAALLLLYYY slowly developing… then I'm okay with that._

Don't worry – you're good. There's a lot of things I've imagined happening in the process of writing this story, but that hasn't been one of them.

In other news, there's a group of Phans doing Camp NaNoWriMo together next month. Me and Haiju are currently trying to get a cabin organized, and there's a DP thread on the Nanowrimo website, in the Fanfiction subforum. Pop in if you feel up to it, or if you just want to talk.

Well, anyways, let's get on with the chapter – the sooner I get these early ones out of the way, the saner I'll feel.

(Also you're insane if you think I'd somehow owned a kid's show that came out almost a decade ago, when I was, like, fourteen. Seriously I didn't even have job experience.)

Chapter Two

* * *

-~o~-

They'd taken him down to the lab and checked him over. He knew that much, but only after hearing it from Mom and Dad later on. Phantom's own memories of back then where very hazy – bright flashes, blurred images, confusing feelings. It was completely nonsensical, even in retrospect.

He remembered touch. Things pressing up under him and prodding him unexpectedly, sending his instincts screaming. Confusion and terror, panicked breathing, the way air burned his mouth as he hyperventilated. The tension in every muscle ready to snap, a buzzing in his chest making every inch of him ache. The way his sight flashed when a shadow passed over him, making him flinch away. A hand grabbing his arm. Actually _having_ an arm. The way voices, filled with worry and confusion and _yelling_, beat against his senses. All at once.

Those moments were shadows of themselves, and the parts that were a bit clearer… well, they weren't worth trusting. There was enough fear and confusion wound into those memories that it was still hard for him to think about without being overwhelmed. Eventually they'd sedated him using a canister from one of Mom and Dad's weapons. Jazz had written about it in some of her earlier session notes, hypothesizing about the effects of constant sedation on his psyche. It had been a fairly common occurrence early on, when he started to panic.

And he did panic – constantly. He didn't know how to deal with anything, from the ceiling lights to his hospital gown. And that didn't even include the hazy figures that lingered nearby, moving and making unexpected noises, brushing up against him while he cowered away, like a frightened animal.

Phantom did _not_ like being touched. It made his skin tingle, the tiny shocks of the other person's nerves seeping in through his skin. By touching them, he could _feel_ them, so similar and so different from what he was used to, sinking down into him. He'd hated it.

However, despite whatever feeble attempts he made to get away back then, they didn't stop. They'd tried not to touch him if they could help it, he knew that now, but it had still been horrible. They barely left him alone, constantly circling around him, touching, tugging, moving him around enough that he couldn't relax, couldn't stop waiting for it to start again. He usually had to be sedated afterwards, but loss of consciousness was a blessing in comparison to the waiting.

He didn't want to go into details. He didn't want to piece together what had happened and how it made him feel. It had led to some of the more heated arguments between him and his sister, but he was firm in his belief that it wasn't worth it. Why kill himself over memories that hurt him, things that he couldn't understand, that had changed? Because they had, he could definitely remember that, even if it was only because the story got repeated so much that it was impossible to try.

It had started as a bad day. They had been trying to wean him off the tranquilizer, and left him alone the night before in hopes of avoiding it. It had been a success, technically, but had resulted in Phantom tossing and turning the entire night. He'd been exhausted when they'd come back in the morning, ready to catch up on their work. Mom and Dad would say he was cranky. Phantom couldn't have described the experience as anything other than hell.

He woke up to a loud bang, and spotted the bigger shadow hovering near him, yanking out the break on the bed. He didn't have time to gather his bearings before it rolled him out of the corner, into the middle of the equipment. Phantom froze in place, too overwhelmed by the sudden towering presence to so much as breathe.

Something cold brushed over his shoulder, making him jump. The other one came up from behind, crooning nearly in his ear and tying a tight binding around his arm, followed by something wet with a smell that burned his nose. Phantom went stiff, instincts screaming at him to get _away_.

The smaller one quickly drew back when he jerked his arm away, almost losing its hold on the equipment. The bigger one grabbed him around the shoulders, and Phantom couldn't twist hard enough to get free, trembling as he felt the tingle of electricity entering in through his skin. He tried to force his arms to move harder, but the hold didn't budge. He struggled until his chest burned and body ached, going slack in the shadow's hold. He jerked as a needle pricked his skin, before the smaller shadow's hand wrapped around his arm, holding it still.

He was barely sitting on the bed at that point, dragged to the edge with his thrashing, the metal under the thin cushion digging into his legs. The second one was moving around, changing equipment, constantly moving away only to brush up against him again. He flinched when it pulled the device out of his arm with a quick jerk.

The larger one pushed down on his shoulders, forcing him down onto the bed. Phantom squeaked in shock, squirming harder in the unfamiliar position, hands holding him down as the second one grabbed his foot, pulling it up. Cold metal pressed against calf, and he sent a fearful look at the smaller shadow. Something pricked his skin, matching the dark blurs against his leg as it was shoved in.

He'd panicked. Phantom kicked out, and the equipment tray fell to the floor with a crash. Large hands tightened over his shoulders as the smaller figure shouted, jumping away from the table, and there was a huge spike of pain and a stream of buzzing liquid streaked over his leg.

His energy flared. A wave of tingles rushed down his body, and suddenly he wasn't being held anymore. The bed vanished, he slammed into the ground with a yelp. The larger figure colliding with the bed, sending it sliding across the floor. A crash, glass shattering and shards scattering across the lab.

Phantom's scuttled away from the chaos. A line of fire went across the back of his leg and he seized, buzzing liquid smeared over his skin as he twisted around on the ground, wildly swiping at his leg. The smaller figure was on him in seconds, pulling him up off the floor and away from the broken glass. He pushed it away, falling back against another shadow. Phantom didn't even think, trying to twist away from the contact.

A hand flew out to grab him, pressing into his skin, and he _felt_ it – so faint but so familiar – the electric firing of nerves, sending a gentle current across his shoulder. Phantom froze

And just as quickly he was lowered down, and it was gone. He whipped his head around, desperate to not loose sight of it, vision shifting. For that short, panicked-driven moment, the colors swimming together in his sight, before the world slid together into a blurry image of a face, staring down at him with wide blue eyes, hand still raised.

And in that moment, he just _knew_, and didn't even think before shooting up and grabbing him. He still remembers the way Danny squeaked when Phantom yanked him forward and embraced him, before they both toppled to the floor.

They laid there, legs draped over Phantom's torso, the ghost's face shoved into a hard stomach, and the figure's head hitting the floor with a crack. Phantom's arms were shaking, still wrapped around it. Phantom closed his eyes, burying his face against the figure, a wave of relief washing over him at the feeling of nerve endings firing in tune, responding to sharp stabs of pain.

He flinched away as the shadows clutched at his arms, starting to pull. He squeezed tighter, trying to ignore their touches. A twinge of frustration transferring through the connection. Phantom whined, shutting his eyes tighter, anxiety rising as he pressed himself in closer.

The body shifted against him. Two new hands wrapped around his wrists firmly, and Phantom froze. They pulled on his arms. He hesitated. There was a spike of irritation, and Phantom reluctantly forced himself to relax, letting them pull his arms apart. The figure slowly sat up, moving away before letting go. Phantom stiffened, reaching out desperately, before his hand clasped tight around the arm trying to pull away.

He gripped tighter when the shadows lifted him up, using the pulses from the skin against his to drown out the unwanted touches. He sat still and held onto the arm, squeezing tight as he was maneuvered around and cajoled into letting them wipe him down and reinsert the needle into his side, where it was wrapped down tight against his skin.

Then they moved away, and they forced him to let go. His sat in his corner, unable to do anything but watch as the figure moved away, before swim completely out of focus.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Eurgh, why do these things keep getting longer? I swear, I kept trying to cut this chapter down, and every time there's more words added on. It's maddening.

…But yeah. Not sure what else to say this time around. Sorry if the last chapter was confusing, but thanks for still sticking with it? I'm hoping this one is up to snuff too, despite how I'm feeling about it at the moment. But then lack of sleep makes everything feel horrible.

More thanks to jeanette9a, DB-KT, coopt98, RedHeadsRock1010, and fullmoonwolf950 for the reviews, and those of you that followed (Including those following Timekeeper now, for whatever reason. Your faith that the story'll be updated after more than a year is heartening, if kinda weird.)

**RedHeadsRock1010, fullmoonwolf950:** Sorry that things were confusing – even if you seemed to be having fun with it, Wolfie. Hopefully some stuff will get cleared up in the next few chapters, even if it takes a while for the writing itself to stop being vague. Hearing your guesses is pretty fun, though I'm going to try staying tight lipped on things. Makes things more interesting.

Also, the Camp NaNoWriMo thing is still going down, and we've got a good number of people involved. You're a bit out of luck if you want in a Phan-cabin, but the thread is still readily accessible if you want some fan-writers to talk to. I find it funny how in the span of a week we filled it with enough posts to make it one of the bigger threads in the Fanfiction subforum – another week and a few more faces and we could probably beat out the HP thread. And who knows, maybe there'll be enough people before April starts to make another cabin? But that's up to you guys, not me.

(Making any official Danny Phantom stuff is also not up to me, because I have nothing to do with the Danny Phantom's creation. Which, again, is a good thing.)

Chapter Three

* * *

-~o~-

All sources indicated that he'd settled down a bit around then, even if he was hardly comfortable by a long shot. He was afraid instead of terrified, and had slowly learned what to expect from them. Phantom stopped fighting it so much, even if only to avoid Danny's disapproval.

He'd also gotten better at focusing his eyes – things in the distance were still hazy, but he could see it if it was near the bed, even if it was a little blurry. It was the most noticeable with the shadows. One moment they were moving blurs, barely visible against the haze, and then they just… shifted. They stepped out of the gloom, lines sharpening, figures solidifying, clearing up so much that he could now see their eyes when he looked at their faces. The second Phantom learned how to properly focus his eyes, he couldn't stop glancing up at them.

It wasn't really a conscious decision though – it just happened. He started picking up subtle shifts and twitches, watching emotions play out over their faces in ways he couldn't comprehend, all as they towered over, watching him back. It was uncomfortable. Just _knowing_ someone was watching set him on edge. He did his best to look away whenever someone tried to catch his eye, resisting the temptation to watch them back.

But just like touch, he couldn't always avoid it, and it only got worse the better he got at focusing his sight. Faces appeared out of the corner of his eye, or he was grabbed and turned around while they worked on him. Despite his efforts, over time he became more familiar with the angular face of the big one and the slighter curves of the small one, though he still darted his eyes away when they got too close.

It was completely different from how he acted around Danny. He didn't see him nearly as much as he saw the other two, but Phantom knew Danny's face best. He never shied away when he was near, never pulled away when he was touching him. When Danny was here, Phantom did everything he could to hold onto him. He would do anything just to be near him, connected to him, even it was only a fragment of what he'd once had. Danny made him feel safe, which was more than he could say for anything else in the lab.

His parents used this to their advantage, waiting until Danny was home before moving Phantom or starting work on him. One of Mom's lab notes talked about how cute it was when Phantom held Danny's hand when they extracted an ectoplasm sample. Phantom could remember the familiar thrum being the only thing that kept him from darting at the first sign of needles.

Things didn't stay that way, though. But then, anyone who thought Jazz would leave someone like him alone was an idiot.

It had started when he'd been in his corner and heard a noise, out in the lab. Phantom looked up and had barely seen the lone figure before drawing himself up against the back wall, frightened and alarmed at the alien presence as she approached, making crooning noises at him. His chest had pounded with energy so bad he'd started shaking, pushing his face down into his knees, praying that Danny would suddenly pop in. She continued making noises despite it not soothing him in the least, staying for a long while. It was a relief, when she finally turned to leave.

She then proceeded to pop in constantly for more than a month, putting him on edge each time. But then, that was just how Jazz was. Once she decided she would help she went all the way, and it took something extreme for her to let it go.

He'd relaxed slightly once it became obvious she wasn't going to touch him, or do much of anything other than croon at him. The other two also tended to stay away when she was around, which settled his nerves a bit more. He'd learned to tolerate very quickly.

Which was the plan. She'd soon moved up from standing in the distance and crooning at him to trying to engage him directly, getting closer and closer, inching into his line of vision. He'd been uncomfortable, but had been forced to allow it.

It was the start of a long and exhausting relationship. She would reach out, he'd shy away. She'd poke and prod at him, try and coax him out of his shell, but it didn't really work. He didn't want food, he didn't want to play, and she didn't want to resort to scaring him into submission. It was a grueling process, and she made it worse by insisting she do it alone.

Since Jazz had started seeing him more often, he hadn't so much as spotted Danny. He didn't see anyone, outside of Jazz. He was moved out of the lab and into a back room. The physical testing came to a halt, and he'd be left alone in his room for hours and hours when she left. The only proof that he'd been in the lab at all was his memories and the tube taped down to his side where they'd once inserted the needle. He was worried he'd never see Danny again, slowly became less and less responsive. But she still was adamantly against introducing anything connected to the lab, including Danny.

She definitely tried her hardest, over and over again. It drove her to the brink of insanity, and the constant stream of notes and theories and rants at the time were enough to fill five notebooks. He would know – they were still sitting on a shelf down in the lab.

But he really _didn't_ cared about much other than Danny. The world was scary and frightening, from food to people to places and things, and the boy was the only source of comfort. Nothing Jazz could do could change that.

Phantom stared down at the tray. It was the only thing he could really look at, with Jazz in the room. She was currently placed out of his line of sight, but that would change if he moved his head at all. He knew – he'd tried. She didn't like it when he moved to face the wall.

He squirmed, trying not to tug at the itchy wrapping at his side. Phantom just wanted to pull it off, but Danny would get so irritated when he did that he'd stopped trying. His eyelids drooped at the thought, wishing he was there..

The door clicked open, pushing open out of the corner of his eye. Phantom twitched at the unexpected sound, but refused to look up, until he heard Danny's voice.

Jazz had already turned around to face the door when Phantom's head jerked up, seeing Danny standing in the doorway. Phantom immediately perked up, drawing up from the corner he'd put himself in, hopeful. Danny barely glanced him over before turning to look at Jazz. Phantom's felt a bit disappointed, but his eyes hesitantly lingered over both of them.

Jazz was talking. Danny quickly cut her off, waving a hand absently. Danny's faced stretched into a smile, and Jazz sighed frustratedly. Phantom watched as they kept talking, curious as he watched the way their expressions shifted as it went on. He'd didn't realize when his eyes started darting between them as they spoke, watching facinatedly.

That's when Danny glanced over again, smile falling slightly. He'd barely started saying something when Jazz whipped around, and Phantom nearly jumped out of his skin forcing his head down. The room went quiet. His stomach roiled – he was too afraid to look, knowing they'd be watching.

Hushed voices. He listened as they talked, not looking. Someone was walking closer, quietly. He kept his eyes averted as they stepped in close, having a clear view of a pair of tennis shoes. Another set of footsteps, and behind them he saw a set of black penny loafers. His head lowered, drawing back slightly.

A gentle hand brushed over his skin. Phantom started, barely catching himself as he recognized the surge of electricity. He looked up, seeing Danny, and quelled his pounding chest as he looked him in the eye. There was a noise – a gasp – and he'd looked for only a moment before catching Jazz's surprised face. He quailed under her gaze, turning his head away.

Danny spoke, tone serious. Phantom closed his eyes tight, not looking up even though he knew Danny was talking to him now. He felt trapped, too afraid to look but wanting so badly not to make Danny upset. Phantom slowly forced himself to look up. His eyes darted in Jazz's direction momentarily, before he forced himself to focus his attention on Danny.

Jazz spoke up, and Phantom flinched. There was a pause as she and Danny shared a brief look, and, hesitantly, she stepped back. Danny sighed, stepping forward and hiding her partially from view. Phantom slowly rose up in his seat again, staring up into his eyes.

Danny shifted, looking to the side, before extending his hand out to him, speaking. He held his hand in place, looking over at the ghost encouragingly. Phantom stared at him blankly. Danny motioned with his extended hand, waving it around. Phantom looked at it and, after a moment, shakily extended his own arm until the back of his hand bumped up against it.

Danny switched their hands around, wrapping his around the ghost's. Phantom smiled, feeling the pulses of energy coming from Danny's skin, a slight tingle of relief reaching him. Danny gave it a firm shake before letting go, the ghost blinking as the boy drew his hand back, leaving Phantom's hanging in the air. The ghost frowned slightly, drawing his hand back as he continued starting up at the boy.

Danny stared back. Phantom watched his face turned uncertain. He turned to talk to Jazz, rubbing the back of his head. Jazz started talking to Danny imploringly. Danny frowned, turning back to him. He said something again, making a motion with his hand, looking at Phantom intently. The ghost looked at the hand them at Danny, confused. He wanted _something_, but Phantom didn't know what. Did he want him to reach out again...?

Danny's frown deepened, casting his eyes over his shoulder momentarily as he spoke to Jazz. Jazz said something, sounding irritated, and he glanced over long enough to see a hand moving to rest over her hips.

Danny rolled his eyes, turning back to cast Phantom a tight smile, and spoke to him in a voice too strained to be cheerful. Phantom frowned, eyes darting over Danny's face, trepidation filling him as he looked over the tightness around the boy's eyes. Danny motioned to him with his hand again, smile twitched down for a moment.

Phantom finally gave in, reaching out. Danny smirks triumphantly, quickly snatching up the hand and shaking it, letting go again. Phantom just blinked as he slowly drew his hand back, deeply confused.

There was a loud sound of approval. Danny cast a particularly irritated look over his shoulder, but Jazz just smiled back at him, excitedly motioning at him. Danny scowled, muttering to himself as he shifted on his feet. Jazz sighed. She spoke to Danny, drawing the boy's attention away again. Phantom's shifted uneasily on the bed as they continued talking to each other, his shoulders drooping.

And then suddenly he caught the edge of a grin on Danny face, his voice turning light. Jazz's smile immediately dropped off her face, replaced with a scowl. Her voice went low, but Danny had already turned around to look at him. He took a step forward. Phantom's eyes immediately darted up to him, watching his approach.

And then he vanished.

Phantom started, eyes going wide. He turned, searching over the room in alarm. He'd caught Jazz's expression – barely registering her irritated look – and then someone grabbed him from behind. Phantom choked on his own scream, phasing through both the hold and his bed, slamming into the floor, head banging hard against the metal bedframe.

There was loud laughter, and Phantom was shocked to realize it was coming from Danny, now somewhere above him. His eyes darted over the confined space as he sat up, casting a completely bewildered look around him, before looking out into the room to see Jazz.

But she wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were shut, lips pursed, one hand up near her face and the other clenched in a fist at her side. Jazz was _furious_. Phantom cringed away, pulling back to hide under the bed.

Phantom's back was to the wall when she finally started speaking, voice low and tight. Danny made a light comment, and the conversation quickly descended into a yelling match. Phantom pulled his legs in, sitting in a ball under the bed, arms over his head and pushing his face into his knees. He shook under the pressure of the argument, until finally the voices cut off with the sound of the door slamming.

There was a sigh from across the room, then footsteps coming towards him. Phantom didn't look up when he heard the shifting of cloth, or a soft exhale next to him. Jazz called out to him softly, less than a foot away, and he forced himself to raise his head up enough to open his eyes and stare down at the ground. Slowly, she coaxed him away from the frame's supports, sliding the bed out from the wall. When he finally peeked out into the room, he saw Danny was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Sorry that this took forever. I ran into an unexpected hangup and had to switch things around at the last second, and then of course Camp started. That and the chapter refused to cooperate with me, making it impossible to edit. The most frustrating part of it is this chapter isn't even that complicated – it just refused to work. Period. Without any good reason. It just _would not work_. Even now, after fixing it and polishing it a bit, I'm still not 100% okay with it. But honestly I think that's the bitterness talking at this point.

But anyways, thanks to Teah no kitsune, jeanette9a, DB-KT, fullmoonwolf950, Cloudless27Sky, coopt98, icy, and Kai-Chan94, along with the anonmahnons named Anon and Andy, for the reviews. Also another thanks to icy, DB, and kimu for their help on deciding what to do with this thing, even if I still ended up dragging it out late, and to Trance who helped me edit this (seriously, giant goddamned lifesaver).

**Teah no kitsune:** _No worries about the length - the more, the merrier. At least then readers think you cut off cuz of the length, not cuz you enjoy seeing us suffer in anticipation xD_

No, no, it's not like that. It isn't content words I'm worried about, but... quality control? It's an editing thing – you try to condense what you said into as few words as possible while still keeping the meaning. It's standard editing procedure for me. If you come at it from that, hopefully it's a bit more understandable how maddening it is to try cutting words only to end up with more than I started with.

Besides, you say that, but could you imagine how long it'd take me to update if the chapters were 10k? You'd be going at least a month between chapters instead of a week. It'd drive you mad.

**Cloudless27Sky:** _Also, who will be the dominant and the submissive? As far as it looks, it looks like phantom is the submissive. I hope it stays that way. There aren't many stories like that._

Yep, pretty much. It was kinda what inspired this story, honestly. If you want to know more you can just read the A/N on the first chapter. And, well, don't expect much to happen anytime soon.

Also something that won't happen anytime soon – me being officially involved with a kids cartoon. Seriously, this is Pitch Pearl. Even if I was, somehow, involved in making the show, I think writing this and admitting to it would qualify me for getting fired.

Chapter Four

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-~o~-

The world spun in a storm of colors, shadows twisting together and gathering until they towered over him on the bed. Phantom whined, the familiar spires of equipment starting to form around him. They whispered to him, cold and calculated. There were smells and sounds, the pain of beings cut open, echoes of pleas already silenced seeping into his head.

He felt it – Danny's hand holding his. The others stepped out of the haze, both grabbing his arms and his legs, holding him down. There were satisfied echoes of laughter as he cried out, the sensation of restraints wrapping around him, holding him in place as fingers burrowed into his skin, needles piercing his veins like claws.

But Danny's hand held on. Phantom shook, frozen in place as the needles dragged through his flesh and turned into knives, his chest thrumming with terror.

And then the hand holding his vanished. Phantom cried out, head whipping around, trying to find Danny, but he was lost in the haze. The echoes laughed as the towering spires lunged at him.

The buzzing in his chest turned into a rush of power, the ground vanishing under him. The echoes screamed in frustrated rage as he started falling.

Phantom cried out as his head slammed against the floor. He went stiff, overwhelmed with pain. He moaned, both arms reaching up to clutch his head. His world narrowing down onto only the pain as he was forced to ride it out, pounding waves of pain washing over him.

The pain eventually petered out, exhaustion making him ache as he went limp against the floor. Phantom whined, trying to curl in, bringing his arms down to cover his face. Something wet slid down his cheek. He heard laughter coming from the lab, taunting him.

Doing his best to ignore them as they continued hissing in his ears, Phantom took a shaky breath, wiping at his face. He blinked, sight swirling together, more liquid sliding out of his eyes. He absently wiped them away, looking up to the metal bed frame.

He stopped. He let his eyes trail down to his body, following the awkward angle of his torso up a cocked-out hip, leading straight up to his knee, before his leg disappeared into metal. He just stared.

His leg was stuck inside the bed. Phantom reached out, touching the metal around it. He shivered, the memory of restraints and rough hands flashing in his head. He squirmed, flinching, muscles straining as he tried to pull his leg free. It wouldn't budge. His insides stirred uneasily, nervous energy buzzing in his chest and making his skin itch.

He'd fallen off the bed before, but not like this. It happened a lot back in the lab, usually when he wasn't sedated and they could reach him more easily. He could still hear the echos from the lab, angry thoughts ringing out through the walls, and shivered. It was easier to fall asleep now that he was farther away from them, but they could still slip in sometimes.

He still wasn't sure what had happened – just that one second he'd been on the bed, and the next he'd landed on the floor. A vague rush of sensations between the two, but nothing else. Phantom took a deep breath, before releasing a heavy sigh. He cringed as his chest moved, a twinge of pain coming from his side. He reached down, feeling wetness underneath the binding. The tube had come out.

Phantom pictured Danny's scowling face when he found him like this, and his heart sank. Phantom saw him more often now that he'd started coming in with Jazz, but it seemed he was always upset with him. He didn't want Danny to be upset because he fell off the bed again. But there wasn't anything he could do about it now. He couldn't crawl back onto the bed, not on his own – he couldn't even try, not with his leg stuck.

Danny was going to be upset about this. He was going to be really, _really_ upset. Phantom's eyes watered, the pounding at the back of his head increasing as his breath hitched. He didn't know what he could do – nothing he ever tried made Danny happy.

Phantom just wanted, something, anything, to make sense, to be like it used to be. Back in the lab, it had been easier. He could hold on to Danny as long as he wanted, and he could understand what he wanted without thinking about it – calm down, sit tight, let them do whatever they were doing without struggling. But he didn't know what to make of things the way they were now.

Ever since Danny had joined Jazz in her attempts to communicate, things had been going downhill. He was there, but Phantom wasn't allowed to touch him. Jazz was always nearby, standing to the side out of sight, talking and directing Danny on what to do. It was the same sort of things she had been trying to do with him for ages, and Phantom was… he was frankly still afraid of her, but with Danny there, goading him on, he hesitantly started cooperating.

Danny would sit next to him on the bed, tantalizingly close. Phantom would have to sit, hands in his lap, only able to watch. Danny would hold things up, and wouldn't be happy until Phantom looked away from him and tracked them with his eyes. He'd pick up blocks, resting them in his palm as he held them out, waiting so long that Phantom would give into temptation and reach out for his hand, before Danny quickly seized it and placing the block down in his palm and drew back. Danny would pick things up and put them down again, eyes staring at him as he did it over and over again, before handing the block out to him and having him take it, staring at him hard until he put it down too.

Phantom had to repeat it, over and over and over. He tried to pay attention, to understand what Danny wanted even when he wasn't touching him, but it was hard, and Phantom couldn't help feeling frazzled as Danny's eyes continued digging into him.

He started fumbling. Dropping things by accident, forgetting where things went or how to put them there. Things slipped through his fingers or fell on the floor as he slowly lost focus, too nervous to even think. They slowly went through the long and confusing process of doing the same task over, and over, and over, Danny getting more and more upset as things went on, all the while the uneasy feeling in Phantom's chest rising.

And Phantom _hated_ it, knowing with each new mistake the likelihood of Danny walking out went up. Sometimes the ghost wanted to just reach out and touch him, just know what he _wanted_, but the narrowed eyes he got when he tried made him draw his hand back.

And now, now Danny was going to be _really_ upset, before he's even had a chance to try to do better. He hiccuped, wiping at his face. He closed his eyes, trying to not think about it even as the buzzing energy made his insides stir uneasily. It was the worst part about being upset – the way his insides started crawling. Phantom squirmed in discomfort. It burned in his chest, making it ache. It always felt like that – this overwhelming pressure, the need to _do_ something, even though nothing he did helped. It got worse when he slept bad, whether he fell through the bed or not.

He shifted uneasily as the buzzing in his chest settled down to a low thrum. It hadn't always been like this. He could remember when he didn't have it at all, but as the days went on it just seemed to rise up inside of him more and more, slowly getting worse every time he became upset. Even now, locked away from the lab and the others, he felt it building up, an itch he couldn't scratch, spreading out from deep inside his chest.

He flinched, his shifting jostling his leg. He went still, trying to release the tension. It didn't really help. He huffed, resting his head back on the ground.

He stared up blankly at the bed before he reached out, letting his hand slide over the metal. He wished Danny was here. He'd be angry at him, sure, but at least he'd be able to help him. He'd seen him go through the walls and ceiling plenty of times, so he hoped he'd be able to get him out. He could at least get him leg out, since Phantom couldn't do it by himself.

Phantom paused, eyes lingering on his leg again. He reached out, finger pressing gently into the seam between skin and metal. He frowned, trying to think back. He couldn't remember falling down that clearly, but he _had_ felt something, inside the dream. The familiar buzzing sensation was hard to ignore, really. It was even harder when it built up inside him, so much that it ached. But right after that, something had changed, and there was suddenly a familiar feeling of… relief. Energy set loose, shooting through his body, and the buzzing changing into a numbing tingle as he fell backwards. He glanced over the bed, thoughts spinning into overdrive. He had fallen through the bed – the leg proved it. It might have been a coincidence, but, maybe, If Danny could do that, could he... could he do it too?

He closed his eyes, reaching inside himself to the source of the buzzing. He bit his lip, feeling the low hum of energy, bound together inside of him, holding onto that feeling as he opened his eyes. He lifted his hand, flexing his fingers as he stared at it in concentration. He wavered just a moment, feeling the buzzing grow stronger and wilder with his worry, before activating it.

A familiar rush of energy spun in his chest and shot down his arm. A wave of tingles went over his hand as it flickered out of sight. Phantom blinked, frowning, wiggling his fingers. No, he could just barely make them out from the metal. His hand was transformed into a hazy shadow, just the way it did when Danny did it.

His eyes darted up to the bed. He hesitantly reached out, wavering when his hand was barely a breath away from touching, before pushing it up. The tips of his fingers brushed through the metal, a thick puff of air buffering over them, and he yanked his hand back in surprise. The trickle of energy stopped, hand popping back into sight.

Phantom lifted his hand back up, slowly inspecting his fingers. They looked okay, and they didn't feel any different. He frowned, staring at the bed. Slowly, he pressed his hand back against it, palm pressed against the metal. He paused, uneasiness holding him back, before forcing his arm intangible.

It slid through, a billow of air and a rush of tingles prickling across his skin.

Phantom blinked, staring up at his arm. There was a line of hazy translucency starting right at his shoulder, going down before his arm vanished into the metal. There was still an odd, airy feeling surrounding it inside the bed, something he could barely pick up between the little shocks of energy.

He slowly pulled his arm out, shivering as the bed tickled his skin, before turning it tangible. He stared up at his unchanged hand in wonder. He glanced at his trapped leg and narrowed his eyes. A rush of energy spun in his chest before spreading down his leg in a cool, buzzing chill, his leg going hazy before falling loose from the bed.

Phantom blinked, his leg popping back into sight. Phantom sighed and settled back down, cringing as his muscles shifted painfully, before finally relaxing against the ground.

His eyes slid over the darkened walls and the chair and the tray-stand folded up against the far corner. He carefully shifted over, the shadows giving way slightly as he stuck his head out, his glow shining over the room. He craned his neck, barely able to catch sight of the clock's face from the wall behind him. He'd seen Jazz and Danny look at it enough times to know it was important. He sighed, closing his eyes. It would be hours before they came in, the small pointer on the opposite side from when Jazz usually showed up.

He might be more comfortable with his leg loose, but he was still stuck. He was too weak to lift himself up on his own – he'd tried before. He could only wait, without even one of Jazz's toys to help distract him.

He turned his head to stare blankly out at the room. It was completely silent, outside of the ticking clock and the soft hum of idle machinery in the lab. The ghost frowned, finding himself staring up at the bed again as he laid back down on the floor. He would have to wait a long, long time before finally getting back on the bed.

He scowled, coming to a decision. The ghost reached out, pushing himself shakily up off of the floor. Phantom didn't want Danny upset with him, and he couldn't stay here forever. His eyes closed tight, doing his best to ignore the pain, elbows at his side as he tried pushing himself up again. If he wanted things to be different, he'd have to try.

The ghost shakily pushed himself up onto his elbows, cringing in pain as he moved. Something thick and wet slid down the back of his neck as he sat up, making the world tilt oddly. Phantom reached out, haphazardly catching his balance as his head spun for a second.

He shut his eyes, squeezing them tight. He leaned against the bed support, panting, shakily lifting his legs up to his chest, closing his arms around them. He shook, energy still buzzing hotly in his chest.

Phantom took a deep breath, hardening his resolve. He pushed down onto the bed support, closing his eyes tight as he slowly pushed himself up onto shaky knees, shoulders pressed up against the bottom of the bed. A wave of buzzing energy shot through his entire body, and Phantom steeled himself before activating it.

The ground vanished under him. He yelped, legs sinking through the floor, body going rigid in surprise. Phantom waited with baited breath, muscles slowly relaxed when nothing else happened. Phantom blinked in confusion, looking around where he floated awkwardly in the air. He craned his neck, sight going dark as head passed through the bed.

His eyes popped up above the sheets. He reached up a translucent hands, only to swipe through the bedsheets ineffectively. The ghost scowled, pulling his hand closer to stare at it, before holding it out again, turning off the flow of energy. His hand popped back into sight, and he reached out to pull himself up. He floated up effortlessly, clutching at the covers to keep his bearings, before turning tangible.

He collapsed onto the bed, head falling down onto the pillow. The mattress bounced under him, low creeks petering out as the springs settled. A wave of relief washed over him, smile twitching at his lips. He felt something swelling in his chest, smile spreading wider as he turned over to relax down into the cushion. He flinched, feeling the wetness under the binding shift again. His good mood vanished. Danny was still going to be upset when he got here.

His heart weighing him down, Phantom's face pressed down into the pillow, slowly turning his head and glancing over across the room, doing his best to ignore it as the laughing from the lab cut into his mind. He'd try to do better, even if Danny got upset again.


End file.
